The Return of the Fellows
by Emmin
Summary: Middle Earth has a boyband! The band 'The Fellows' has reached a new low as one of their most important members quits. It's up to their much-suffering manager Bilbo to get them back on track. Even if that means dealing with weird creatures that want to audition, or Kili's vocal exercises, or Merry's constant mushroom-munching... Yes, it's going to be a hell of a journey.
1. One man down

A/N: This idea originated yesterday, when I was discussing 'The Hobbit' and certain members of the cast (you know who I'm talking about) with my friends. Somehow we started talking who would be in a Middle-Earth boyband (I think one of the cast says something about a boyband in one of the production diaries) and after that I couldn't stop thinking about it. So what did I do? Naturally I ditched everything to write the first chapter of an epic story! Hopefully I will be able to update it every week or so. Hope you like it!

**One man down**

Mister Bilbo Baggins was a very respectable and decent hobbit, but the news he now received almost caused him to scream like an orc.

"What do you mean, he quit?" he asked. He tried to keep his voice flat, but the word 'quit' was almost an octave higher than the rest of the sentence.

"He walked away last night," Kili said. He didn't seem that concerned. Then again, Kili never really seemed concerned. "Really angry. Said he didn't want to have to do anything with us anymore."

"Good riddance, I'd say," Fili said.

"Good riddance?" Yes, Bilbo's voice was now definitely higher than before. He felt a scream of frustration and despair welling up inside him. Oh, he wished he was back home again, with a kettle on the fire. Not for the first time.

"Elves' ears, Bilbo," Kili said. "Why do you get so worked up over this? His bass playing wasn't that good."

"You don't understand!" said Bilbo. "Boromir is the son of Denethor, stewart of Gondor!"

"So? Our uncle is King under the Mountain," Fili said. "He can act all fancy and noble about it, but a stewart is not a king."

"He was the only reason we got any gigs at all!" Bilbo screamed. "Our whole next tour was set in Gondor! Denethor himself made sure everything was provided for! We're ruined!"

Kili and Fili were a bit taken aback by this outburst.

"Take it easy, Bilbo," Kili said, after a while. "We'll figure something out. It will work, you'll see."

Bilbo had collapsed on the chair, hands on his face.

"What do I do?" he murmured. "What do I do?"

"It's not that hard," Fili said. "We'll just have an audition."

After Kili and Fili had left, Bilbo stared blankly at the desk in front of him.

"Just an audition," he said. "And who is the one doing all the work? Yes, me."

Sometimes Bilbo wondered why he had accepted the position of manager for second-rate band "The Fellows" in the first place. Then he remembered he didn't really have a choice at the time. That creepy bouncer, seemingly an old man, had effectively forced him to take the position.

Now he simply wished he could disappear.

That afternoon the whole band was assembled in the practice room. It had taken a long time before this feat was established, so Bilbo was exhausted before the actual meeting begun. And he still needed to get everyone's attention, which sounded easier than it actually was.

"Merry, lay of those mushrooms! Fili, stop drumming! I can't hear myself! Put that ball down, Pippin! Where is Sam? Sam!"

Sam Gamgee, the handyman, came right away. He was always so punctual and well-behaved. Why wasn't he in the band?

"What is it, master Bilbo?" Sam asked.

"What are all those flowers doing in the room?"

"Thought they'd cheer up the room, master Bilbo. Beg your pardon, master Bilbo."

"No, it's fine," Bilbo said. "Just… I fear for them in the presence of this lot."

"Anything else, mister Bilbo?"

"No, it's okay. Go check on Frodo, or something. I'm worried about him."

"Right away," Sam said. He got out, leaving Bilbo to calm the completely unhinged band.

"Kili, no! That is antique!"

Eventually the exhausted, despairing hobbit, let out a scream that was enough to silence everyone. For now, at least.

"Enough!" Bilbo said. "This is serious!" He sunk down on the couch. "Please listen to me."

It worked. Only now everyone stared at him as if he were mad. Which was almost correct.

"Are you okay, Bilbo?" Merry asked.

Bilbo got up.

"No," he said. "I am not. And unfortunately, you are the reason for that."

"Me?" Merry asked. "I got you mushrooms the other day!"

"That's mean, Bilbo," Pippin said.

Bilbo sighed.

"Not you specifically, Merry. All of you. You drive me crazy with your irresponsible, we-can-do-everything-we-like attitude."

"We're a band," Fili said. "What did you expect?"

"A little bit of professionalism," Bilbo said. "You blew every gig I ever managed to get you."

"Not the one in Fangorn," Pippin said. "Those trees loved to rock!"

"They were just too slow to get away before it ended!" Bilbo snapped. "And they're also a bit slow paying."

"We could go to Lake-town," Kili said.

"You ruined it there by telling them you would rock the dragon out of the mountain," said Bilbo. "And then you didn't do it."

"It was a figure of speech!"

Bilbo sighed.

"Without Boromir, we have no income," he said. "No performances, no nothing."

"We can have an audition," Fili said.

"I already put an add in _The Palantir_," Bilbo said. "But even if we somehow miraculously manage to get a good bass-player, we are still on a dead end."

"Don't say that, Bilbo," Merry said. "You come through in the end."

"_I_ do," Bilbo said. "You guys don't! _If _we can get a bassplayer, and _if _I manage to get you a gig, I expect some changes. In your attitude I mean."

"Of course," Kili said.

"No problem!" said Merry.

"So no more vocal exercises on the night before the gig," Bilbo said.

"What?" Kili looked at him as if he were crazy. "But I need my warming-up!"

"Then don't do it in the middle of the street, and don't do it when people are sleeping!"

"Okay, okay, I won't," Kili said. "Elves' ears, don't get so worked up about it."

"Pippin, no more drink for you!" Bilbo said. "The maximum will be a half pint."

"What?" Pippin complained. "I can totally hold my liquor."

"No, you can't," Bilbo said.

The other bandmembers nodded in agreement.

"You can't," Merry said.

Pippin looked hurt, but didn't argue anymore.

"And for all of you, please, please, please, practice when you're supposed to practice. Nine o'clock, here, in the practice room."

"Nine o'clock?" Fili asked. "That's outrageous!"

"Yeah!" Kili said. "Besides, we already know all of our songs, by heart."

"Right," Bilbo said. "I guess that explains why you forgot your lyrics at that Ranger-party! And you, Merry, if you're doing a solo, people expect it to sound good! And Fili is supposed to know when the song slows down or goes faster. Pippin… good work at the keyboard."

"Yey," Pippin said.

The other ones weren't quite as happy.

"We're not as bad as you make us sound," Kili said.

"It's your choice," Bilbo said. "We have to practice, or we'll only be touring Mordor for the next ten years."

"Oh no," Merry said in disgust.

"I hate that place," Pippin added in a small voice.

"No way," Kili said. "I am not letting any orc throwing mud or arrows at me anymore!"

"And that guy gave me the creeps," Fili said. "With that fire."

"He was constantly looking at me…" Pippin said. He had turned really white. Merry patted him on the shoulder.

"We're not going back there," Kili said. "Everything's better than that."

"Well, that's a pity then," Bilbo said. "If you don't practice and if you keep doing all those crazy things, no one else will have us. At least the orcs seemed to enjoy themselves. And I must say, they were very prompt with the payment."

"We'll practice," Kili said. "By the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo, is it really necessary to be this serious?"

"Oh, it is," Bilbo said. "And to make sure you will keep your promises, I've got a contract you should sign."

"A contract?" Fili said.

"I'm not doing that," Merry said. "I am a free, unbound hobbit."

"Am I even allowed to sign?" Pippin asked. "I'm only 32!"

"I'm not signing," Kili said.

"Then I'm sorry, but I have to quit," Bilbo said. He had finally said it.

They all stared at him. It took some time before anyone spoke.

"Quit?" Kili managed eventually.

"Yes!" Bilbo said. "You don't seriously think I do this for fun, do you? I'm constantly busy cleaning up all of your messes and I'm sick of it! I'm not doing it anymore! Not unless you are really willing to put some effort in this and to do the best you can! Because you are better than this!"

It was really quiet in the practice room.

"You know this, right?" Bilbo asked. "You can do better."

Everyone was still silent, and for a moment Bilbo despaired. This is it, he thought. This is the end of all things.

"I'll sign it."

Bilbo looked around the room, incredulous. They had all said it at the same time.


	2. An unexpected audition

**N/A: Hi everyone! It's so cool that people have read the first part of the story. I hope you'll enjoy the next part too. This is the first of the auditions and because it is shorter and because some friends wrote some of the other auditions, the next part will be uploaded on monday! Please let me know what you think of them :)  
**

For the first time since the debacle with Boromir, Bilbo felt somewhat confident. 'The Fellows' were all in the room, sitting behind the table and looking… well, they looked serious. That was a nice change. Maybe these auditions would turn out all right.

Then he felt a sudden urge to sneeze and he reached in his pocket… but there was no handkerchief. Bilbo sighed and got up, in order to get another handkerchief (he had a collection in his desk), but at that moment Sam barged into the room. He was talking about a 'suspicious looking person' at the door.

"I don't trust him, mister Bilbo," he said. "He's a sneaky little bastard, if you ask me. Only nine teeth, almost bald, looks like a skeleton. Got a brace of conies with 'm, says it's for the master and that he wants to try out."

"Please tell me he's not one of Frodo's friends," Bilbo said. He was worried about Frodo.

"He sounds rock-and-roll!" Fili said.

Bilbo sighed again.

"Send him in."

When the door opened again, Sam was apparently discussing the best way to cook a rabbit with the weird person.

"PO-TA-TOES," he said. "Boil 'm, mash 'm, stick 'm in a stew. Even you couldn't say no to that."

"Oh yes, we could," the person said. For some reason his voice freaked Bilbo out. "You ruin them."

Then the door opened and the person to whom the voice belonged entered the room.

This was not going to be a good day.

"I'll make these for lunch," Sam said, as he held up the rabbits. He then left.

No one said anything. They all stared at the creature in front of them. He was suspicious looking, as Sam had said, but Bilbo wouldn't call him a 'person'.

Bilbo cleared his throat.

"So… what's your name?"

The large eyes of the creature narrowed.

"My name, precious?" it said. Then he made an awful noise in the back of his throat, that sounded like 'Gollum'.

"Gollum?" Kili said. He tried to say it in the same manner as 'Gollum', but failed.

The eyes of the creature became bigger again.

"My friends call me Smeagol," it said, very happily. Then it crouched down again, tilted its head and said: "You don't have any friends. Nobody likes you."

Gollum/Smeagol put its hands to its ears.

"Not listening. I'm not listening."

"O…kay?" Bilbo said. He was tempted to just call Gandalf and be done with it. But this was an audition.

"What would you like to play?"

"Play?" Smeagol said, smiling (and in doing that showing the terrible state his teeth were in). "Yes, precious, yes! We would love to play!"

"Right…" Bilbo said. Next to him Pippin muttered that the creature freaked him out.

"No!" Gollum/Smeagol snarled suddenly. "We don't want to play. Just give it to us, love."

"Why would we just give you the place in the band?" Kili asked.

"Because it's my birthday," it said. "And we wants it."

'The Fellows' exchanged looks. Bilbo was about to say that, unfortunately, there was only one free place in the band, so the two of them couldn't join, when the creature spoke again.

"They don't want you here," it said. "Nasty hobbitses and dwarves. I told you they were tricksy. I told you they were false."

"I hate you," it said. It looked very sad. Then it didn't look sad anymore, but angry.

"We survived because of me!"

"Not anymore."

"What did you say?"

"We don't need you anymore!" it said. "They will look after us now! Go away."

"Go away?" The creature laughed in some gurgling fashion.

"Just go away!"

The creature looked around him.

"We told it to go away precious," it said. "And away he goes!"

"Er…" Bilbo wanted to say something, but the creature screamed:

"Smeagol is free!"

"Er… I'm sorry to interrupt," Bilbo said. He wasn't, really. "I don't think we have a place for you here."

"What?" it said. His wide-open eyes made him look scared and lonely. Bilbo almost felt sorry for him. But he had to make the decision that was right for the band.

"You can leave now."

"And never come back," Merry muttered.

"No!" The creature screamed out loud and then burst out crying. But disturbingly, his crying abruptly stopped.

"I told you so," it said.

Then the crying continued.

Bilbo sighed and called Gandalf.


	3. A Merry Fellow

**N/A: This has been written by my good friend, Fieryfly (who has an account on Fanfiction too, so...). Give her a round of applause! Friday the next episode will be uploaded. Let me know what you think of it!  
**

**A Merry Fellow**

The auditions didn't go as planned. They didn't go as planned at all. This mostly had to do with the fact that, for some reason, people who weren't even remotely interested in playing the actual part of bassist in the band, started to show up. Bilbo had just send the sixth Hobbit home who thought that an audition invitation was the same thing as the start of a party. Yes, they had brought instruments - which Bilbo had considered great when he saw the first one enter with a guitar - but then they started to ask where the food was.

And the drinks.

And the pleasant company.

Also, they didn't exactly play the part of bassist. While the first Hobbit had come in with a guitar, it had steadily become worse. So far Bilbo had seen a collection of a horn, a flute, a xylophone and some guy who couldn't even play an instrument at all but who said that he could drum on pumpkins if he had too. (They were very big pumpkins. The best ones in Hobbiton according to the Hobbit himself.)

This made that Bilbo was already irritated after six performances and it wasn't hard to imagine that the band had become really bored. They had started energetic, ready to find some new player, but with all the strange displays of music their interest had dropped significantly. While Bilbo was filing through the list of applicants, Kili was trying to shoot little pieces of arrow shaped paper in Fili's mouth and Merry and Pippin started to complain about the fact that they were hungry.

"When do we get lunch?" Pippin whined.

"We already had lunch." Bilbo shove another pile of papers to the side.

"We had one yes, how about a second lunch?"

Merry looked up at the idea. "I didn't know we did second lunches too," he asked.

"That is because we don't," Bilbo said decisively and then shouted to the door: "Gandalf, bring in the next guy!"

The next guy was… different at least. Bilbo found it hard to describe it otherwise. He was old, older then all of them combined it seemed, but at the same time looked full of life. He wore a bright blue jacket, the same color as his slightly uncanny eyes, and his boots were yellow. He had a beard and carried a bouquet of water-lilies in his hands.

The man was taller than the hobbits and dwarves, but not tall enough to be a Man. He walked with a bouncy step on stage and then halted, a happy smile on his face.

Bilbo really wasn't sure what to think of this guy. He coughed and decided to roll with it anyway.

"Okay, who are you?" he asked.

"I am the eldest. I remember the first raindrop and the first acorn," the man said.

A silence fell in the room.

"Right… but I meant what is your name?" Bilbo shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Tom is my name. Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo or just Tom Bombadil will do."

Merry and Pippin laughed and Bilbo beckoned them to be silent. "Right then Tom. Tell me your motivation to sign up for this audition."

Tom looked on his watch. "Tom had some time to spare, so he thought: why not come over and make music?"

Fili and Kili stopped with their paper fight. "That is what we are talking about!" Fili called. "Making music. That is why we are here!"

Bilbo sighed. "Well, whatever. The reason isn't that important anyway. If you could just let us hear you play. Do you have any preferences?"

"I'd like to do some of my own compositions. I sing a lot you know, when I walk through the forest and Tom walks a lot through the forest. I have to because that is my home."

"Anything we can play?" Bilbo asked.

"I'll just let your hear it," Tom said smiling and he spun around towards the microphone. He cleared his voice and Bilbo was just about to say that he was supposed to play the bass guitar and not sing when the man started one of the most insane tunes Bilbo had ever heard. Something with "merry dol! Derry dol!" and about someone named "Goldberry."

Merry and Pippin seemed to love his music and happily clapped along with the beat.

"Okay, wait, stop, stop!" Bilbo called and he waved his hands around frantically. Tom stopped singing and looked at him.

"I am afraid that this is not what we are looking for," Bilbo said, hoping that he had not just crushed the man's spirit. It was not as if the singing was bad. It was just not what they needed. But Tom seemed to hardly care about what Bilbo had said.

"That is okay," he said. "Tom needs to go back anyway. He has water-lilies with him and Goldberry is waiting."

"Can't you stay, Tom?" Pippin asked him.

"Yeah, come with us!" Merry joined his fellow hobbit.

To avoid any more annoyance Bilbo decided to send the two to fetch some food and hoped that they would have forgotten everything about the man by the time they came back.


	4. The very highest

**N/A: This one is written by another friend of mine. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! **

**Many meetings, part 3: "The very highest"**

The first couple of auditions had been bad, and now the Fellows started to get bored. Fili and Kili had started to throw food around and Pippin was playing around with a pen and managed to spill a cup of coffee all over Bilbo's papers.

"Fool of a Took!" screamed Bilbo. "Spill it over your own papers next time, and rid us of your stupid songs!" Pippin hurried away to get some towels and Bilbo sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"Next"

The person who entered the room was a human, dressed in a grey cloak. Bilbo could see his face.

"Name?"

"Fa…Fangorn, that is my name."

"Okay, mister Fangorn. Why do you want to join our band?" interrupted Kili.

The man suddenly stood upright.

"It is a chance for me to show my qualities."

"Erm, qualities sound good, right?" said Fili.

"It sounds…interesting," Kili answered.

Bilbo ignored them. He wanted to sneeze, but remembered just in time that he had forgotten his handkerchief. Bilbo suppressed the sneeze.

"Well go on. Do you know the song 'Pelennor Fields Forever'?" The man nodded.

"Good. Start playing."

Pippin came back and started to clean up the coffee. When he heard the man singing (all of them wanted to do different things, instead of just playing the bass like they were supposed to), Pippin forgot about the cleaning and sat down to listen. The man was not really terrible. His bass play was fine and he had a good singing voice.

"He plays just like Boromir," whispered Merry.

"Yeah, you are right", said Kili.

"Didn't Boromir once say he had a little brother? Something with a F..."

"Faramir was his name," said Bilbo.

"I knew I recognized the guy. I saw him once at a gig. Nice lad. He wanted to be like his big brother," said Fili.

"We can hire him," said Pippin enthusiastically. "It would be just like the old days."

"No, no. And have the whole ego-trip thing all over again?" said Kili. "We will be having auditions again next month."

Auditions next month? Bilbo thought he would not survive that.

Faramir had stopped playing and was waiting.

"Erm… thank you mister Far… Fangorn. We have recorded your audition and we will call you," said Bilbo while he crossed the name of the list.

"Shouldn't I play together with the band? Just to listen how it sounds?"

"That won't be necessary."

Faramir made a small bow, put the bass guitar back in the stand and left the room. Pippin looked disappointed. The others started to throw food around again. Bilbo wished that he was back at home. He had some nice cheese in his pantry, he remembered, just a couple more auditions and he could make himself some dinner and have some cheese afterwards. The thought made him hungry and he snatched away some food, before the others could throw it.


	5. Out of the frying pan

**N/A: Enjoy the latest audition! It's my writing again. Hope you like it and leave a comment :)**

**Out of the frying pan...**

Bilbo was just about to suggest taking a break, when he heard someone speaking rather loudly in the hall. He could not yet make out the words, but he knew that voice. Oh, he knew it already. And it came closer.

Quickly he snatched his spoon from his cup of tea and hid it in his pocket. Then he took a book and held it in front of his face. He slid down from his chair a little, in order to hide behind the table.

Just in time. The door flew open and there she was: Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. She had brought her husband Otho with her. Bilbo tried not to move. Maybe if he didn't move, she wouldn't see him.

"Bilbo Baggins!"

He had hoped for too much.

Fili, who had been sleeping since the last audition – when a strange guy with a carrot insisted that he should be the leader of the band if he were chosen, and that they should make more use of costumes in their performances – was woken roughly by the sound of the voice and knocked over the table. Now Bilbo was without protection. He put down the book and put his hand on the pocket with the spoon in it.

Lobelia had snatched the guitar, though Bilbo had no idea if she could use it. As a baseballbat, maybe.

"My son Lotho is a very nice lad!" she said. Her voice was like nails over a blackboard. "_And _he is your first cousin once removed! Now, I'd say he deserves to be in the band. He plays a very mean bassguitar, that he does. And it is always preferable to the company of a Took and a Brandybuck. Or _dwarves_. My Lotho will definitely make the level go up."

She looked at the group with disdain.

"Though that is not much of a challenge," she said. Kili wanted to say something – probably something not really flattering about Lobelia – but she went right on. "You owe me this, Bilbo. The moment you joined that band I know you received all of their royalties. We are your family and more so than that half-Brandybuck, creepy cousin of yours. He's on drugs, I'd bet my umbrella on it. You need better company, like Lotho. Don't you agree, Otho?"

Otho nodded. If Lobelia would only know that Bilbo didn't receive a penny – or rather, that all the money he made, went straight to the next performance. For a moment, Bilbo was tempted to ask Lobelia to trade places. She would get the shock of her life.

"Are you actually going to play anything?" Kili asked, clearly annoyed.

Lobelia looked at him and her eyes narrowed.

"I wasn't talking to you, dwarf!" she said. "Besides, _I'm_ not the one auditioning. My son is."

"Where is he?" Merry asked. He seemed to be having fun.

"At home!" Lobelia said. "You don't think I'd leave my home unattended, do you? Not in these times, with Brandybucks and Tooks all over the place."

"Okay, that's it," Bilbo said. "Get out."

"No, Bilbo Baggins, I won't," Lobelia said. "I have the right to be here and I won't leave until you say 'yes'."

"Call Gandalf, will you?" Bilbo said to Pippin.

"You…" Lobelia seemed unable to find words for this outrage. "You're not a Baggins, Bilbo! You're a… you're … _strange_."

She then attempted to walk out with the guitar still in her hand, which resulted in a small incident that could be referred to as 'Dwarves vs. Old Hagling'. Luckily Fili and Kili proved to be the stronger party, though they were hit with an – apparently magically appearing – umbrella several times.

By now Bilbo was wondering if they would actually be able to fill in the spot. He was not very hopeful.


	6. The Reforging of the Fellows

**A/N: I was a bit busy last week, so only now I could upload this chapter. The next weeks I will probably have tons of stuff to do too, so I think the next chapter will only be there in the new year. On a positive note: the adventure will begin for real! But at least most of you readers will have the real Hobbit to look forward to (or you have already seen it...), while I have to wait until February. Life is unfair :( Let me know what you think of this chapter and I hope you like it!**

The word best describing the way Bilbo was feeling right now, was probably despair. He was sitting at his desk as usual and looking over the list of names from the auditions. All of them were crossed out. It seemed as if he had to choose the least of all evil. Maybe the one hobbit that had actually brought a guitar with him?

A knock on his door.

"Enter."

It was Sam and he seemed agitated. Maybe that creature had come back.

"Mister Bilbo, sir. I… at the door… someone… it's an elf, sir! I've seen an elf."

"An elf?" Bilbo just hoped it wasn't someone who wanted to collect a debt. He couldn't remember borrowing from an elf, but it was possible. "What does he want?"

"To audition, mister Bilbo."

"For what exactly?" Bilbo asked. "Does he want to sing? To play harp? The triangle?"

"I…I didn't ask, mister Bilbo."

Bilbo sighed. He wasn't mad at Sam, but he just didn't know if he could suffer another deception.

"Get the band to the practice room. And tell the elf to come in."

Sam went right away, with Bilbo lingering in his room for a moment. Dwarves and elves, wasn't there some sort of animosity between them? Well, he was already on a low point, so he had nothing to lose.

When he came in, only Kili wasn't there yet. The rest of the band and the elf were in their positions. Meaning, the hobbits were seated behind the table and staring at the elf, Fili was seated at the table and trying not to look at the elf, and the elf was examining the guitar.

"Hello," Bilbo said. "You are the elf… I gather." He tried an amicable smile.

The elf turned his head and gave Bilbo an intense look.

"My name is Legolas, from Mirkwood," he said. "The bass has been played by other men."

"Well, yes," Bilbo said. He didn't want to offend the elf, but obviously the bass-guitar had been played by other men. It was in a practice room. In an effort to make a joke, he said: "And it's also been played by hobbit and a woman." He coughed and looked around. "Right, let's get started."

Just as he was sitting down, Kili came in the room. Legolas was at that time standing with his back to the door and that resulted in an awkward moment in which Kili was definitely checking the elf out. Until Legolas turned around and Kili found out it was a man.

He almost fell over in his haste to get away from that mistake.

Fili and the hobbits almost fell over laughing.

Legolas just frowned and looked at all of them without comprehension.

"Okay, okay," Bilbo said. "Why don't you play something?"

"What do you want me to play?"

"Preferably something with a bass in it." It was not a joke. After all those fail-auditions, Bilbo desperately needed someone who actually auditioned for the role that was available.

"I understand," the elf said.

Then he started an unbelievable solo… a bass solo… His fingers moved so quickly over the neck of the guitar that they were almost invisible. When he finished, no one spoke.

"Well… that was… unearthly good," Bilbo said. "Er… wow… amazing style… the risks…"

"Flashy," Kili said. "And unnecessary. We need a guy who is a teamplayer, who can give our songs the backbone, not the shiny elfish outside."

The elf stared intensely at Kili.

"What are you looking at?" Kili asked. He seemed a bit flustered. "Are you looking at me for a reason? Did I do something? Quit looking at me."

Of course Legolas did not understand what was going on, so he frowned.

"Do you have a problem, dwarf?"

"Okay, okay," Bilbo said, for the second time. "Why don't you all play together and we see how that goes. Please."

He emphasized the last word and shot a warning look at Fili and Kili. They did what Bilbo wanted.

"Let's play 'Heart of the Mountain'", Kili said. Of course he would want them to play that. The bass line was constantly the same. If Legolas was a real bass-player, he would be able to handle that. If he was only fit for solo's… well, then there was another name he could cross of his list.

_But the heart of the mountain_

_Is the heart of a dwarf_

_And it beats, it beats only for you!_

Kili was in good shape today. In fact, all of them were in good shape. For a moment, Bilbo forgot all the evenings in small towns, where all of them drove him crazy and they would eventually end up on being yelled at by the townpeople because they just sucked. This, this was why he had agreed to do it. Well, this and a bit of pressure. He had almost forgotten that this band actually had potential. A lot of potential.

Bilbo looked at the list and slowly started writing 'Legolas'. Then he made a huge circle around it and he smiled.


End file.
